Lowell residents road-test proposed master plan

LOWELL -- A diverse group of residents came together Wednesday to offer input on the city's proposed new master plan, "Sustainable Lowell 2025."

The public-input session was one of two this week and was paired with feedback from an 800-household telephone survey and other solicitations of public input coordinated by neighborhood planner Allegra Williams.

Emily Rosenbaum, executive director of the Coalition for a Better Acre, said the need for affordable housing in her neighborhood is significant.

"We have a 1 percent vacancy rate in our housing. The demand for it is tremendous," she said, noting the coalition caters to families with annual incomes ranging from $25,000 to $55,000.

Philip Ferreira, a facilitator for the meeting who works in the city's Department of Planning and Development, said city officials will try to mesh needs like the coalition's with the need to help bring more market-rate housing into the city to help drive its economic engine.

"It's a balance," he said.

"We're doing great at attracting young professionals, but six of my friends are buying houses in Chelmsford or Westford when their kids hit school age. How do we work on that issue?" asked library trustee Marianne Gries.

Corey Sciuto, a downtown resident, suggested the city continue to embrace social media to keep English and non-English-speaking residents informed, while Jane Calvin, executive director of the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust, highlighted a partnership between the schools and Mill City Grows, which helps get fruit trees planted on school grounds for students to care for.

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The city's assistant human resources director, Donna McIntosh, noted there's already a program in place called "Operation Rosebud" that pairs students in ROTC with elderly and disabled residents to help them clear the snow in front of their homes.

Kim Scott, a School Committee member who also has served on the solid waste and recycling committee, said she would like the city to eventually go to single-stream waste removal.

Miriam Perkins, a volunteer at the International Institute, said she would like the city to do more to address immigrant-housing needs, while resident Melissa Carino said she would like the city to look to the example set by Portland, Ore. in ensuring neighborhood equity.

"Portland has an office of equity. I was wondering if Lowell would open something like that?" she said, noting the office could review city policies to ensure none of the various neighborhoods are neglected.

While affordable housing concerns were top for some attendees, protecting neighborhood character is a big issue for The Pawtucketville Citizens Council, said the group's co-Chairman, John Hamblett.

City Manager Bernie Lynch, Anne Marie Page and her colleagues from the Citywide Neighborhood Council, city Economic Development Director Theresa Park, Maria Dickinson from Planning and Development and Wastewater Utility Executive Director Mark Young were in attendance, along with UMass Lowell political-science professor John Whiting, Community Planning Librarian Sean Thibodeau and Barbara Gagel, a painter who recently moved back to the city from New Mexico.

Mike Frye, a Highlands resident, said he was pleased with the input session, particularly on environmental-resilience issues.

"There's lots of great energy here today. The event was very, very detailed," Frye said.

"The cities that are flourishing now have a distinct sense of place. Innovative new entrepreneurial ventures will drive the economy going forward," said Adam Baacke, director of Planning and Development for Lowell.

Baacke praised a recent entrepreneurial program funded by a $5 million Federal Department of Energy grant that allowed National Historic Register buildings within the national park to be retrofitted with green-building features, noting the area has the oldest lede-certified building in the country.

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